Educational approach

With the material in the Photonics Explorer, students not only learn about science, but they learn how to do science (see also 'concept of the Photonics Explorer'). It makes a great difference to hear how someone else found out something long time ago, or to make this discovery yourself. Going beyond the mere presentation of scientific facts, our educational approach aims at teaching and fostering important skills. Scientific reasoning, the critical evaluation of results and the discussion of the potential impact of technologies are just some of the essential abilities our society requires from all of us, not only from scientists.

Theoretical background

The educational approach of the Photonics Explorer builds on the constuctivist learning theory and aims at a guided inquiry based learning. In more simple terms, it expects the learner to be more than just an absorber or fact knowledge. On the other hand, it expects the teacher to be more than just a source of information. Learning becomes a team project, where the learner has to make active use of the knowledge and skills she already has in order to gain new insights and abilities. The teacher takes the role of a guide or a coach that assists the learning process. The driving force is inquiry, which, once kindled by the teacher, should originate from the student.

Granted, these ideals cannot be translated one-to-one to a regular secondary school class. In a situation where more than 30 students are forced to sit quietly in a room for 45 minutes, it is very difficult to motivate all students to play such an active part. Especially if the targets set in the curriculum have to be reached. The development of the Photonics Explorer therefore relies on the experience of many teachers who know this situation very well. With their help, the didactic material will be designed to make it as easy as possible for teachers to implement such advanced teaching methods into regular teaching.

Implementation

Our educational approach can be summarized in three words:
engage, excite, educate.

We try to fully engage the student - not only with her eyes and ears, but also with her mind and hands. We challenge her in order to engage her creativity and other skills. By doing so, we show the student that she is taken for serious, and that her active participation is needed for the course.

We want to excite the student with experiencing first-hand the fascination of working with light. The feeling of success and achievement upon a successfully conducted experiment is usually more exciting than an eye-catching demonstration by the teacher. This will also help the student to discover, foster and trust her own scientific abilities.

However, the goal is not to entertain, but to educate. A student who is actively involved in finding out how things work will get a deeper understanding of physical concepts, and remember them better. We therefore aim not simply at explaining a list of physical facts, but rather want train research skills, which are of more lasting value than detailed knowledge of e.g. a specific physical formula.

Fast Answers

What is it all about?

The Photonics Explorer program will equip Europe’s secondary schools with up-to-date educational material on topics related to light and its technical use. The Photonics Explorer provides teachers with a class-set of components for hands-on experiments together with an inquiry-based didactic framework. It will be distributed free-of-charge and support teachers to engage, excite and educate students about the fascination of working with light.

What is photonics?

Photonics is the art of making light work for you. Just as electronics has changed the world by turning electrons into our every-day workhorses, photonics has changed our way of living by harnessing photons, small energy-units of light. We use them to carry information around the globe (e.g. for the internet), to generate electric energy, to detect diseases and heal, to cut and weld metal, to measure without touching or simply to read when it's dark outside. From the generation and shaping of light, to the transportation to its destination and its exactly controlled impact, photonics encompasses all aspects of handling electromagnetic radiation.

Why is it needed?

As more as teenagers like to possess and use the latest technological gadgets, as less they seem to be interested in what actually happens behind the user interface. At the same time, our society and everyone individually becomes increasingly dependent on science and technological progress. This raises the questions: Who is going to work on the scientific answers to the challenges we face as a society? How can we motivate young people to engage in the informed discussion about steering the efforts of scientists and the responsible use of technology?

The best place to raise young people’s interest in sciences is at school. Teachers play a key role in encouraging the next generation of scientists and engineers. The Photonics Explorer program therefore aims to support teachers in their efforts to make science an exciting and fun subject, while giving students a clear understanding of physical concepts and showing their relevance to the student’s every-day life.

For whom?

The work in this program is done for school kids. To make them experience the fascination of working with light first-hand, the Photonics Explorer will equip teachers for more engaging and exciting science lessons.

Who are we?

The Photonics Explorer program is teaming up teachers, scientists in pedagogy and experts in photonics to design an intra-curricula educational kit for secondary schools. More than 30 educators from 10 countries volunteer their time and expertise to ensure a high educational value and an easy integration of the material into the regular teaching.

This educational program is actively supported by sponsoring companies from several European countries.

The program is coordinated at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium) and scientifically evaluated by the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education in Kiel (Germany).

How can I get involved?

The Photonics Explorer program builds on the enthusiasm of many volunteers that donate their time and expertise to improve science education in Europe. There are several ways you too can get involved, and each support is appreciated: